Brain Cancer Symptoms & Treatments

Brain Cancer:

There are two types of brain tumors: primary brain tumors that originate in the brain and metastatic (secondary) brain tumors that originate from cancer cells that have migrated from other parts of the body.

Types of Brain Cancer:

There are two main types of brain cancer:

1. Primary brain cancer starts in the brain.
2. Metastatic brain cancer starts somewhere else in the body and moves to the brain. Brain tumors can be benign, with no cancer cells, or malignant, with cancer cells that grow quickly.

Primary brain cancer rarely spreads beyond the central nervous system, and death results from uncontrolled tumor growth within the limited space of the skull. Metastatic brain cancer indicates advanced disease and has a poor prognosis.

Primary brain tumors can be cancerous or noncancerous.

Both types take up space in the brain and may cause serious symptoms (e.g., vision or hearing loss) and complications (e.g., stroke).

All cancerous brain tumors are life threatening (malignant) because they have an aggressive and invasive nature. A noncancerous primary brain tumor is life threatening when it compromises vital structures (e.g., an artery).

Brain Cancer Symptoms:

Brain tumors can cause many symptoms. Some of the most common are:

• Headaches, usually worse in the morning
• Nausea and vomiting
• Changes in your ability to talk, hear or see
• Problems with balance or walking
• Problems with thinking or memory
• Muscle jerking or twitching
• Numbness or tingling in arms or legs

Treatment for Brain Cancer:

Treatment for brain cancer depends on the age of the patient, the stage of the disease, the type and location of the tumor, and whether the cancer is a primary tumor or brain metastases. The treatment plan is developed by the oncology team and the patient.

Treatment involves any combination of surgery, radiation therapy (including radiosurgery), and chemotherapy. Some tumors require several different surgical procedures, and some can be treated with radiation alone.

Surgery to Treat Brain Cancer:

Surgery is the treatment of choice for accessible primary brain tumors, when the patient is in good health. The goal of surgery is to remove as much of the tumor as possible without damaging nearby normal brain tissue. The prognosis improves when more than 90% of a tumor can be removed.